The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1887-08-12
SIN this envc,opc," and he produced a ,et.
ter from his pocket addressed TO ,nuself.

y ne ~lsn 70 undertake the quest Of
w&.chl' SPOKE"
' And suppose I were to diet" I asked.
"Then the boy must become Q ward Of
Chancery and take his chance. Only b
careful that tho iron chest is passed on to
him by your will. Listen, Holly, don't re-
fuse me. Believe me, this Is to your I'd.
vantage. You are not fit to mix with the
world-it would only imbitter you. In a
lew weeks you will become a fellow Of
your college, and the income that you will
DERIVE from that, combined with what I
nave left you, will enable you to live q Life
OF learned leisure, alternated with the
sport of which you are SO fond, such q will
exactly suit you"
He paused, and looked at me anxiously.
bu still hcsitated. The charge seemed
60 very strange.
"For my sake, Holly. We have been
good friends, and I have no time to make
other arrangements"
Every WE'LL" l said, 81 will do II, pro.
v1ded there Is nothing in this paper to
make me change my mind" and touched
the envelope he had put upon the table by
the keys.
"Thank you, Holly, thank you. There
is nothing at oil. Swear to me by God
that you will be a father to the boy, and
tonorv my directions to the letter."
'4swear it," 1 answered, solemnly.
VERY well; remember that perhaps one
day 1 shall ask for the account Of your
oath, for though 1 am dead and forgotten,
yet shall 1 live. There is no such thing ~
death, Holly, only a change; and a. You
may perhaps learn in time to come, I be-
leve that even here that change could un.
der certain circumstances be indefinitely
postponed" and here again he broke into
on OF his dreadful fits Of coughing.
"There," he said, 81 must go. Youhavs
the chest, and my will will be found among
my papers, under the authority Of which
the child will be handed over to you. You
will be well paid, Holly, and I know that
you are honest; but if You betray mykust.
by Heaven l will haunt you!"
said nothing, being indeed too beWil.
dered to speak.
He held up the candle, and looked at hin
own face in the glass. It had been a beau.
ttful face, but disease had wrecked It.
FOOD for the worms" he said. "Curious
70 think that in a few hours I shall be stt0
andcold-the journey done, the little same
played out. All me, Holly! life u NOT
worth the trouble of life, except when on
Is in love-at least minc has not been: but
The boy Leo's may be If he has the courage
and the faith. Goodbye, my friendi" and
with q sudden access of tenderness he duns
bis arm about me and kissed me ON the
orehead, and then turned to go.
"look here, vincey," I said, .1f you ars
asfl a. you think, you Asd better II No
fetch . DOCTOR"
mo, no." he said earnestly. "Promiss
mo that you won't. lam going to die, and,
like q poisoned rat. I wish to die alone"
81 don't believe that you arc going to do
anything Of the Sort" I answered. He
smiled, and with the word Remember"
ON his lips, was gone. AS for myself, I sat
down and rubbed my eyes, wondering II I
had been asleep. As this superstition
would not bear investigation, I gave It up,
and began to think that vincey must have
n linking. KNEW that he was, and
L, very III, but still 1t seemed inn
posGdble that he could be in such q oondi-
zion as to be abb to know for certain that
be would not o live the night; Had he
bsen SO near dissolution, surely hs would
carccly have feen able to walk and carry
heavy iron box with him. The whole
kory, on reflection, seemed to me utterly
credible, for I was not then old enough
b aware how many things happen n
world that the Common sense Of the
f6fage man would set down as soimpr0b-
1elas to be absolutely impossible. This
fnct -,latI HAYS only recently mastered.
. It likely that q man would haye . son
years Of ago whom he had never seen
poJhe wa .. tiny infanti No. Was 1t
" that he could foretell his OWE death
g1ratelyi No. Wa 1t likely that he
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